An Aberdeen food firm boss caught with £700 of cocaine had it to help cope with “family difficulties”, a court has been told.
Jordan Clarkson, of Premier Meal Prep, was caught with 16.3g of the class A drug when police raided his home on December 21.
The 27-year-old – whose family owns and runs a number of city pubs and restaurants including Soul, The Draft Project and Vovem – turned to the drug after going through “various family stresses”, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
Two weeks before his arrest Clarkson’s older brother Paul was jailed for dealing cocaine.
Clarkson’s arrest came just days before he and a team of volunteers laid on a festive three-course meal for homeless people – an event he called “one of the best Christmases I’ve had”.
Fiscal depute Tom Procter told Aberdeen Sheriff Court police executed a drug search warrant at Clarkson’s Queens Road address in Aberdeen on December 21.
Clarkson pled guilty to a charge of possession of cocaine.
Defence agent Neil McRobert accepted his client did have previous convictions but said there were none under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
He said: “There were various family stresses and difficulties last year.
“Mr Clarkson has, in the past, had issues with drug use and had periods of rehabilitation to support him in that.
“Since that last period of rehabilitation, he has abstained from drug misuse.
“Towards the end of December last year, given the various family stresses, he had purchased the cocaine with the intention of consuming it over the Christmas period.”
Mr McRobert told the court that police had recovered all of the cocaine.
He added: “Thankfully, the cocaine was removed from him and he didn’t consume it.”
The solicitor said Clarkson has taken online courses and further steps to address his issues since the offence, adding that he was “remorseful” and “extremely anxious” about the court appearance.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin fined Clarkson, of Queens Road, Aberdeen, £1,475.
‘Family difficulties’
Clarkson’s brother, Paul, served four months of his eight-month sentence behind bars.
The 42-year-old pub operations director was arrested after police received intelligence he was in possession of cocaine at the Draft Project on Langstane Place in Aberdeen.
Officers searched Paul Clarkson as he left the venue at 9.33pm and found class-A drugs worth £1,630, self-seal bags and a mobile phone full of incriminating text messages.
Press coverage of that case quickly appeared online and was shared and commented on widely.
This sparked an angry reaction from Jordan Clarkson, who took to informing some of those who took part in the debate that they were banned from all the family’s venues.
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